ic contact.

[deushexmachina]

"Hi, probably just easier to find me in the lab. I'll get back to you."

Comments

[jinxs]

golden boy

we have business to DiScuSs

see you at my place

chop chop

if you can't make it because you're scared, security will be provided for you (me)

[deushexmachina]

Is this a "come alone" situation? Should I be concerned? And am I expected to bring anything?

Either:
1. food
2. tools

[frondeurs]

I've prepared a couple of things to start your training.

Tell me where you are.

[deushexmachina]

Headed back to our lab. What we're using as a lab, anyway. Probably better if I meet you, it's already been a long day.

action

[theorems]

[He'd been resting, needing to do that more frequently in the past few years than ever before. If he had a fully equipped lab, he probably would be ignoring that need for rest, but as it stands, being taken away from his work has probably helped his health just slightly.]

You are writing very aggressively for just a conversation with Caitlyn.

[deushexmachina]

Not just with Caitlyn, [he admits, sketching out a jail cell to put Jinx's word ridiculous.] Jinx is here, acting strange.

[jinxs]

this is not my best work

i kind of only have one eye

but check this out

(sometimes, words overlap, things end much further from the margin than they should. but she copies her plans for a mask to keep incense out, as well as the calculations and 3d design.

on the other page, the same, but for hydroelectricity.)

[deushexmachina]

[A glance as his notebook scrawls with ink.

He doesn't ask about the eye, sensing bait. His focus is on her blueprints, the geometry of the mask design, the invariability in her calculations.]

These are good.

[Then the coup de grâce, the hydroelectricity:]

What sort of material are you thinking for the penstock? Slate could work, as reinforcement.

[jinxs]

(both jayce and viktor are rather different in the way they teach, but that's to be expected. she knows viktor's got experience as well as brains, and while jayce is nothing other than genial, isn't this the first time he does it? her eyes are tired, but her spirit is unbroken as her pen moves against paper, making a mess of their desk with calculations while her brain burns striving to solve this footlong problem he's presented her.

an hour, two hours, she doesn't see the time pass as she skips from a page to another, double-checking, striking, tapping, and finally, finally, she sighs in exhaustion when she hands him the paper with her final results and complete analysis, panting as the anxiety of failure roots in her brain.)

Here.

[deushexmachina]

[Were Jinx lacking in prodigal capability, Jayce wouldn't have been able to teach her — his effort is sincere, his focus crystalline, but as a prodigy himself he thinks a certain way. He cannot slow down. He can't ease for the neural forging of a student's mind, he's relentless, he's hammering, his ideas burning like a furnace.

But she burns with him, bright and searing.]

Okay, [he looks it over, golden eyes darting line by line. Precise, clean, accurate. A deep breath, a slow exhale. The smile spreads on his face with the warmth of a dawn.]

Good. [Glances from paper to pupil.] More than good, actually. It's perfect.

action

[theorems]

[He had sent Jayce out for the day, insisting he needs his privacy in the house until sunset.

When Jayce returns, he'll see several lit candles outside their shared house, along the window sill.]

[deushexmachina]

[His patience sanded to grit by the disappointment of his failed foraging mission—no iron so easily found these dusty hours—he concedes his efforts with the sun roasting his back.

A burgundy dusk paints his way home, the orange embers of the candles flickering amid blue velvet evening.]

Viktor? [He leans over, tapping at the window sill, peeking in.]

[jinxs]

(jinx's back. it hasn't been easy to resurface, and neither has it been any of the conversations she's had since then. silco had been, strangely, the easiest, finding their way back to plots and schemes over the hurt she's caused him yet again. viktor is hurt, and she feels like she at least owes jayce something, anything, after her radio silence.

so, she's rooted under a tree nearby his house, knees against her chest and eyes glistening pink in the darkness of night, until they spot jayce. shimmer speed allows her to make her way to him in no time, strength enough to knock him down when she jumps at him for a hug.)

[deushexmachina]

[He hits the ground, elbow cutting into dirt, his head a scream of adrenaline — and then, the corner of his eyes catches the blue braid. Her thin arms—empowered by Shimmer—wrap around his ribs and he feels the unspoken agony and loss and relief.

His own arms, sculpted and strong, hug her back with the conviction of a true believer. He knew she'd return.

Jayce Talis always believed in the brighter future.]

text!

[fledges]

Heyyy. It's me. I'm on my way over to Coatepec with a special delivery.

[deushexmachina]

Kate, hello! I've been thinking about your arrows.

voice

[jinxs]

(an excited voice, with several voices in the background. clearly not home alone, but instead, roaming the streets of kiichpan's market.)

CHEEKS!

[deushexmachina]

Jinx? [He's startled, eyes narrowed as he listens to the atmospheric sounds.] Having a good time?

one week later

[mcpieceofshit]

Talis-san! I've made my way to Coatepec.

What's interesting, here?

[deushexmachina]

Hey, good to hear from you. There's a cluster of us Salamanders around. There's "The Eye" if you like horrible little dive bars.

text; shortly after her tdm threads

[sparring]

This is Jayce?

[deushexmachina]

You've found me. Am I allowed to ask who this is, or are we making a game of it?

text;

[zauneyete]

[ If writing could be sing-song: ]

You know, I saw something interesting the other week.

[deushexmachina]

Was it a rock?

action

[theorems]

[When Viktor returns to the house, he's without his crutch. He had left it in their shared space, and the incense didn't see fit to return him to where he died entirely. He awoke again at the Coatepec gate at least, but all those stairs would be difficult without some sort of tool.

Thankfully, Viktor had found a large and sturdy enough stick by the outermost gate that he could use as a cane, finally making his way up all those steps and back to his ... "home."

If he can call it that.

Right now, it feels... wrong.

He doesn't knock. It's his own house, after all. Even if he shares it with...]

Jayce?

[deushexmachina]

[Time slows. His arms move as if through water, stretching out and forward, feet stumbling. The makeshift kitchen with the stone-encircled hearth feels miles away from the front door, from where he heard Viktor's voice.

He thinks what a cruel dream this could be.]

voice;

[theorems]

I feel like I should not have to ask this, but did you eat the cat food?

[deushexmachina]

Impossible. We don't have a cat.

text;

[goldenscarred]

Don't tell him about the glyphs.

text;

[deushexmachina]

Too late.

I already told Viktor. I can't keep research secrets from him.